Cocaine and Crack Cocaine

News about cocaine and crack cocaine, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jun. 24, 2015

Law enforcement officials say 17 members and associates of one of Clan Usuga, Colombia’s largest and most influential narcotics cartels, including its founder and current leader, have been indicted on drug trafficking charges. MORE

Jun. 3, 2015

Colombia is struggling to facilitate farmers in move to stop growing coca and grow legal crops, step toward stabilizing part of country long ruled by rebel fighters and drug traffickers; effort, which gained urgency after government halted American campaign to kill coca crops with aerial spraying, is falling short of expectations. MORE

May. 15, 2015

Colombian government ends long-running program of aerial spraying of illegal plantings of coca, crop used to make cocaine, voicing worries that spray causes cancer; program was major element in American-backed antidrug effort; move defying United States raises questions of efficacy of long-accepted strategies in war on drugs. MORE

May. 8, 2015

Federal authorities say Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti, who ran pizzeria in Corona, Queens, hid shipments of cocaine in refrigerated cargo containers and then distributed it New York and Italy; say international operation ring reached from Costa Rica to Italy. MORE

Oct. 17, 2014

Hunter Biden, younger son of Vice Pres Joseph R Biden Jr, is said to have failed a drug test for using cocaine and was discharged in 2014 from the Navy Reserve. MORE

Sep. 6, 2014

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford tells reporters that he has been subpoenaed to testify at court hearing related to efforts by his unofficial driver Alexander Lisi to recover video showing Ford smoking crack cocaine. MORE

Jul. 29, 2014

American prosecutors claim Hugo Carvajal, former head of Venezuelan military intelligence, was on payroll of Colombian drug lord, invested his own money in drug trade and coordinated shipments of cocaine; unsealed federal indictments shed light on accusations of ties between Venezuelan military and law enforcement and Colombian narcotics traffickers. MORE

Jun. 15, 2014

Questions surround 2011 arrest of now 90-year-old Leo Sharp, who was most prolific drug courier for Sinaloa cartel in the United States; Sharp, who had been a very successful hybridizer of day lilies, was arrested after car he was driving was found to contain 104 kilos of cocaine; it is unclear what made him turn to drug trafficking. MORE

May. 30, 2014

Seizures of cocaine headed for United States have nearly quadrupled in recent years, with increasing amounts coming from South America through Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands; shifting patterns by traffickers come amid continuing violence among drug gangs along United States-Mexico border, where most drugs continue to enter US, and law enforcement crackdown. MORE

May. 2, 2014

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who acquired international notoriety in 2013 for his drug use, leaves home, apparently for rehab; new video has surfaced in which Ford appears to be smoking crack. MORE

May. 1, 2014

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, citing 'a problem with alcohol,' says he is temporarily stepping aside from his mayoral re-election campaign and seeking 'professional help'; statement follows online posting of image that appears to show him smoking crack cocaine, second such incident to be made public. MORE

Mar. 19, 2014

Darko Saric, described as being among most feared and wanted drug traffickers in Balkans, is arrested in Serbia and charged with smuggling more than five tons of cocaine and laundering at least $30 million; authorities say he has been at helm of elaborate drug ring stretching from South America to western Europe. MORE

Mar. 1, 2014

New York City medical examiner says actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was killed by poisonous mix of drugs that included not only heroin but also cocaine, amphetamines and sedatives. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

Justice Department asks defense lawyers to help government locate prisoners who were sentenced under drug laws during days of national crack epidemic, and encourage them to apply for clemency; drive is part of Obama administration's effort to curtail severe penalties in low-level drug cases and undo a disparity that flooded the nation's prison system, disproportionately affecting black men. MORE

Jan. 9, 2014

House aides say Florida Rep Trey Radel, who pleaded guilty to cocaine possession, has apologized to his Republican colleagues. MORE

Jan. 8, 2014

Supermarket employees in Berlin and Brandenburg State, Germany, uncover hundreds of pounds of cocaine, worth about $8.2 million, while unpacking boxes of bananas; authorities surmise that drug smugglers made logistical error. MORE

Jan. 6, 2014

Linda Greenhouse Op-Ed column holds thousands of federal inmates languish in prison for crack cocaine use, since their crimes occurred before passage of 2010 Fair Sentencing Act ; notes law was silent on retroactivity; cites growing disagreement about similar issue, giving retroactive effect to 2012 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles who commit murder. MORE

Jan. 4, 2014

Florida Rep Trey Radel, who pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and checked into a rehabilitation clinic in November 2013, will rejoin Congress when the new session begins. MORE

Dec. 21, 2013

Michael Wilson Crime Scene column describes string of incidents in which resident of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, building has noticed broken crack pipes in lobby, leading him to wonder whether drug use is reemerging in neighborhood known as epicenter of hipness; authorities say that crack is not on rebound in area. MORE

Dec. 20, 2013

Pres Obama, expanding his push to curtail severe penalties in drug cases, commutes sentences of eight federal inmates who were convicted of crack cocaine offenses; each inmate has been imprisoned for at least 15 years, and six were serving life sentences; Obama says each had been sentenced under what is now recognized as an 'unfair system.' MORE

Dec. 5, 2013

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson acknowledges in London court that she has taken cocaine and other drugs, but refutes former husband Charles Saatchi's claims that she is a habitual user. MORE

Nov. 27, 2013

Florida Gov Rick Scott adds his voice to calls for Rep Trey Radel to resign from Congress after pleading guilty to cocaine-related charges. MORE

Nov. 26, 2013

Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, calls for Rep Trey Radel to step down following cocaine conviction. MORE

Nov. 22, 2013

Rep Trey Radel of Florida, who has pleaded guilty to cocaine possession, checks into rehabilitation center. MORE

Nov. 21, 2013

Rep Trey Radel of Florida will take leave of absence from office after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his purchase of cocaine. MORE

Nov. 20, 2013

Rep Trey Radel, Republican of Florida, is charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine after having been arrested in Washington in October. MORE

Nov. 6, 2013

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admits to smoking crack cocaine, reversing his denials about using the drug after a video fell into the hands of the police. MORE

Nov. 6, 2013

Op-Ed article by novelist Stephen Marche holds Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's continuing popularity, despite his admission that he has smoked crack cocaine, speaks to deep currents of outsider rage in the city; contends Toronto is the city of Rob Ford now, an expanding hot mess fueled by dark secrets, inarticulate desires and inchoate fury. MORE

Nov. 4, 2013

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologizes for being intoxicated in public and acknowledges the need to curb his drinking, but does not address allegations of crack cocaine use and says he will remain in his job despite growing pressure to resign. MORE

Nov. 1, 2013

Toronto, Canada's largest city, descends into political turmoil after police say they have recovered a video apparently showing Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. MORE

Oct. 19, 2013

Michael Wilson Crime Scene column details double life led by Dwayne Mitchell, resident of Jacob Riis Houses on Lower East Side who was known both for caring for neighborhood children and for being crack dealer; Mitchell and 10 others have been arrested and named in indictment announced by Manhattan district attorney's office. MORE

Oct. 16, 2013

Prosecutors say Dwayne Mitchell has been head of lucrative crack cocaine drug ring in Lower Manhattan for more than a decade, even while neighbors viewed him as kind and affable man; Mitchell and 10 others are charged with second-degree conspiracy for their role in drug trade, and with multiple counts of selling drugs; Mitchell is also charged with money laundering. MORE

Oct. 9, 2013

Leo Sharp, 89-year-old Indiana man, pleads guilty in Detroit to serving as drug mule to distribute more than 1,400 pounds of cocaine. MORE

Sep. 24, 2013

Record haul of cocaine, found in suitcases in Paris on a Air France flight arriving from Venezuela, raises multitude of questions about the security of the baggage scanning system and the possibility of collusion by either airport or airline staff members both in Venezuela and France. MORE

Sep. 7, 2013

Mexican federal judge frees two teenagers who had been kept in jail for nearly 10 months despite evidence showing that the cocaine that police officers found in their minivan might have been hidden in the vehicle before it was bought at a United States government auction. MORE

Aug. 2, 2013

Editorial highlights preliminary report released by United States Sentencing Commission that has found that Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced vast disparity in way federal courts punish crack versus powder cocaine offenses, has been a success; praises two bills in Congress that will do more to advance sentencing reform. MORE

May. 25, 2013

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies accusations that he smoked crack cocaine; Toronto Star and Gawker reporters allege that they viewed a video recording of Ford using crack cocaine. MORE

May. 18, 2013

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who has long been dogged by controversy over his often boorish behavior and less than diligent attention to work, faces his greatest political test after two reports that he is seen in video apparently using crack cocaine. MORE

Apr. 9, 2013

Indonesian court upholds death sentence for Lindsay June Sandiford, British woman convicted of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine onto resort island of Bali. MORE

Mar. 29, 2013

Judge Ronald R Lagueux of Connecticut reverses 15-year prison sentence of Denise Dallaire, which he imposed on her a decade earlier after she was arrested for selling a few ounces of crack cocaine; reversal, accompanied by apology from Lagueux, highlights how mandatory sentencing guidelines continue to keep hundreds of small-time offenders behind bars for longer than many today consider appropriate. MORE

Feb. 5, 2013

Dr Karen Ersche study in journal Biological Psychiatry suggests that people with smaller frontal lobe regions in their brains, area associated with self-control, are more at risk for cocaine addiction. MORE

Jan. 23, 2013

British government says it will protest Indonesian court ruling sentencing British citizen Lindsay June Sandiford to death by firing squad for smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine to island of Bali. MORE

Jan. 5, 2013

Authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, say they will start detaining addicts of crack cocaine and sending them against their will to treatment centers. MORE

Dec. 27, 2012

Bolivia, world's third-largest cocaine producer, has advanced unorthodox approach toward controlling growing of coca, by licensing thousands of legal plots intended to produce plant for traditional purposes; experiment has led to significant drop in coca plantings, largely without murders and violence that have been bloody by-product of American-led measures to control drug trafficking in region. MORE

Oct. 17, 2012

Former American Airlines baggage handler Victor Bourne, who was convicted of leading cocaine-smuggling ring at Kennedy International Airport, is sentenced to life in prison. MORE

Aug. 8, 2012

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accuse Jorge Guerrero and five others from Ecuador of smuggling narcotics into the United States by stuffing cocaine and heroin inside food and by soaking paper with liquid cocaine; Guerrero, who pleads not guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison. MORE

Aug. 3, 2012

Authorities report that two gangs that terrorized residents of Harlem's Robert F Wagner Houses for years by openly selling crack cocaine and marijuana were brought down with the arrest of 19 members; arrests are part of a focused effort by the Manhattan district attorney's office to eliminate violent drug and gun gangs. MORE

Jul. 27, 2012

Visit to remote region of Venezuela's vast western plains shows that the government's triumphant claims about its successes in combating drug traffickers are greatly overstated; region has become one of the world's busiest transit hubs for the movement of Colombian cocaine to the United States by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the Venezuelan government's hold on the parts of the area is at best tentative. MORE

Jul. 22, 2012

Drug Enforcement Administration has begun training an elite unit of counternarcotics police in Ghana, and is planning similar units in Nigeria and Kenya, as part of an effort to combat Latin American cartels that are increasingly using Africa to smuggle cocaine into Europe; aggressive response by the United States demonstrates its increased anti-drug focus as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down. MORE

Jun. 22, 2012

Supreme Court rules 5-4 that recent changes to penalties for crimes involving crack and powder cocaine may be applied retroactively; rules 6-3 that cases insisting on an expanded role for juries in determining facts to support prison sentences and the death penalty also apply to criminal fines; members of the court’s liberal wing, in a third case, accuse the majority of addressing questions not presented by the case and revising precedents in ways that will diminish union power. MORE

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